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May 17, 2016 - An Evening With… So Cal Music Scene Legends NEWSLETTER A n E n t e r t a i n m e n t I n d u s t r y O r g a n i z a t i on

This month, board members share favorite LA music moments

The President’s Corner From Renee Jeske… Wow! I can’t believe it’s the end of the 2015-2016 season already! It’s been an excing year and I hope we did our job to keep everyone educated and “My introduction to the music scene was the very first time informed on the latest in the world of music copyright and our fickle business. I ever visited Los Angeles, back in August of 2006. I planned a road trip We’ll be announcing the elecon results tonight that will determine our from the Bay area with my sister around going to see the bands officers and board for the 2016-2017 season. You will be in good hands next Wideawake and Zac Brown play at a place on Melrose called The year and more great panels and copyright updates will be coming your way. I Gig. We had such a blast that making road trips to L.A. to see music want to say a special thank you to the CCC board, past presidents and staff. I’m became one of my favorite pastimes, and eventually contributed to my honored to have had such amazing and passionate people behind the decision to move Los Angeles to pursue a career in the music industry.” organizaon this last year. I could not have done this without your hard work, support, advice and guidance.

I’ve been a music fan as long as I can remember from my first concert (Shawn From James Leach… Cassidy at the Greek), to working at record stores in Orange County as a teenager to today where I get to work with people whose music I was “My ‘Go To’ music spot was always The Roxy on Sunset Blvd. This is influenced by, admire and sll listen to today. My teenage self would never where I would catch George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, Roy have believed I’m on a panel with the people speaking tonight! Thank you to Ayers, The Brothers Johnson, and of course !!! The Jonathan Rosner, Marrsha Sill, Charley Londoño and Ronny Schiff who assisted Roxy was host for Prince’s first Los Angeles show performing ‘Soft and with our stellar line up. Wet,’ ‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’ and many other songs from his first two albums. As his popularity grew, the Roxy could no longer accommodate We will be awarding our annual John Braheny Scholarship to a very deserving the fans and, of course, he moved on to larger venues like The Forum. music business student. Look out for good things to come from this young However, that didn’t stop Sheila E., Vanity 6, The Time, The Family and lady! anything Prince related from following in his footsteps and blessing that Roxy stage and my memory with their amazing performances!” Lastly, thanks to all our guest speakers, members and aendees for supporng the CCC this year. It means a lot to us that we can connue our educaonal efforts and scholarship program. Without you this wouldn’t happen. From Charley Londoño... Thanks again for the amazing year! ”During 1997 I was working in the radio promotion department of A&M Diane Snyder-Ramirez Records, where I did national Alternative and AAA formats. I was on the President, Copyright Conference phone with a program director from Oklahoma, Paul Kriegler, when out of the blue, walked into my office. I remember telling Paul I had to cut our call short abruptly as Elton John walked into my office. Paul said ‘REALLY?’ and I said, ‘Really, gotta jump, I’ll call you later.’

I got up from my desk to greet Elton John, shake his hand and introduce myself, and he says: ‘Hello, I’m Elton John.’ I remember laughing nervously and saying: ‘That goes without saying.’ He thought my remark humorous and laughed. A good sign.

He was on the A&M lot visiting people because he was relaunching Rocket Records via Polydor, which A&M distributed. He asked what I did at A&M Records. What I thought was mind-blowing was that he was able to discuss all the latest alternative bands that were relevant and getting at the time. I always heard that he had a love for all types of music and would buy tons of records at Tower Records on Sunset. I found his fluidity with current music astonishing. !1 While we were speaking, music was blaring out of one of the offices in the promotion department. Elton asked: “Who is that?” I said: “that’s the new Amy Grant record.” He said: “I’m like Amy Grant.” I was taken aback because here was a superstar who not only was personable but understood where he stood from a commercial standpoint, meaning, he knew, at that point of his career, he was more of an Adult Contemporary artist rather than the Top 40 acts that were currently getting played at radio. To find a superstar like Elton John, who is legendary, knowledgeable about all types of music, and knew his commercial relevance in the industry, I found so amazing and increased my respect of him, not only as an artist, but, as a knowledgeable business man with no hubris.

And, for Elton John to be that affable and kind, well…what can you say? What a marvelous man and artist. I’ll never forget that moment.”

From Jean Montiel…

“During her most prolific years I never got to see her live, but then one night a few years ago, came to the Greek Theatre (one of the best places in L.A. to see a show!). Tickets were purchased last minute and, by some miracle, the seats were really good. From the minute her set began until the very last note, the atmosphere in the venue was nothing short of magic. I don’t use the term loosely. A consummate professional in every sense, Bonnie takes you on her journey. By the end you are transformed…A suspension of time, when the whole place comes together for an unforgettable night of musical joy.”

From Michael Morris…

“Way back in 1979, you didn’t just go to L.A.’s Chinatown for the food. You went to immerse yourself in music—most of it punk of one variety or another. There was a burgeoning music scene dominated by two competing venues: One was Madame Wong’s, whose owner was notoriously known as “The Dragon Lady,” and where The Police, among many bands, had played. The other was the Hong Kong Café, operated by former Polygram A&R man and , Barry Seidel. When Madame Wong’s ran block ads with the names of the actual bands that played there, Barry Seidel infamously parodied those ads by listing names like Liberace and Frank Sinatra in the border of his Hong Kong Café’s ads in the L.A. Weekly. Pretty damn funny, even if the Dragon Lady wasn’t laughing."

“I had met Barry when both of us were living in Tucson (Barry was close with guitar god Link Wray, who lived in Tucson for a spell). Coincidentally, we both ended up in L.A., and Barry began booking many cutting-edge bands at the Hong Kong Café, including The Bangs (before becoming ). He also booked the legendary Arthur Lee and Love! So one night, I wandered into a packed house at The Hong Kong Café, where an all-female band was raising hell, including an incendiary cover of the 1960’s classic “Cool Jerk.” One of the band members was even swinging from the rafters. This band later caught the attention of my friend John Guarnieri, who signed them to I.R.S. Records. And the Go-Go’s went on to become the most successful all-female rock band ever.”

From Ronny Schiff…

“It’s January 1969; someone in my Transcendental Meditation class said, “You’ve gotta hear this new singer/, .” I had already heard Judy Collins’s version of “Both Sides Now,” so I was intrigued. Joni had moved to L.A. recently, as had her manager, Elliot Roberts, who didn’t have an office yet, but 411 supplied his home number. I made an appointment with Elliot to talk about producing her songbooks, and went up to Joni’s house in Laurel Canyon. The living room had a baby grand and a couch, upon which sat Joni, Laura Nyro, Judy Collins, and, I believe, Bones Howe—a breathtaking group of talent. I negotiated a print deal with Elliot, and produced Joni’s songbooks for several years afterward (for which Joni provided her own art).”

At Disc Marketing, we produced the audio programming for United Airlines and Air Force 1 & 2 from 1998 to 2007. We interviewed many artists, especially on our Salute to Songwriter channel for which Dan Kimpel and John Braheny were the main interviewers.

“The most memorable interview we did was with Leonard Cohen. I insisted that our entire staff crowd into the booth to hear him. What we heard was the most insightful, fascinating, complex discourse on his music philosophy (very Zen), his life and loves. His words, like his lyrics, were poetic. His melodies and chord changes had that visceral magic that changed our heartbeats and made us catch our breath…The embodiment of why we’re in this business.”

“We had just moved into a new building and our recording studio wasn’t completed, so for an interview with Walter Trout and John Mayall, we needed to use our old studio a mile away. Dan Kimpel proudly opened the trunk of his new car to stow away Walter’s and John’s gear, and John climbed into the trunk, and refused to get out!” Dan Kimpel: “Walter rode shotgun with me after trying to coax John into the car. I drove through Pasadena thinking, ‘How will I explain killing the father of British Blues by suffocating him...’ When John emerged from the trunk he looked very refreshed.”

!2 From Diane Snyder-Ramirez…

“Erik Sandin from NOFX used to babysit me.”

“One of the best live shows I’ve ever seen was at the Fender Ballroom in Long Beach with Guns N‘ Roses opening for Cheap Trick on ‘The Doctor’ tour. It was the week GNR released their limited edition EP on Uzi Records. Cheap Trick always put on a great live show, but GNR were so pumped about their first release—and their performance was so amazing—you knew from that one show that great things were to come.”

“Back when KROQ was in Pasadena, my mom used to take me to the station on the weekend to visit ‘Rodney on the Roq’ [aka ] and we got to hang out while he did the show and to meet the bands that would stop by. One of my favorite visits was when the dropped off a new single and I got to answer the door.”

”Showtime had a live concert show called ‘Rock of the ’80s’ taped at the Palace in Hollywood. I had tickets to a taping and in just one afternoon saw INXS, , Human League and R.E.M. Years later I met Jim Kerr from Simple Minds, and asked him about the show. He said his one memory of that show was someone putting a video camera in his face asking him to say ‘I want my MTV!’ He refused, and felt that it was why they didn’t get much early support from MTV.”

From Merlene Travis…

“If there is one thing that can be counted on in the world of entertainment, it’s to expect the unexpected. House Concerts give artists an intimate environment in which to perform. Recently I planned my first house concert for the first songwriter I signed back in the , Jill Colucci—a singer/songwriter known for her amazing vocals and her country hits. She co-wrote and performed ‘The Funny Things You Do’—the theme song for ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos,’ co-wrote hits for Travis Tritt and the award-winning, ‘No One Else on Earth’ by .

Jill arrived safely from Nashville and was staying at a friend’s house. Our guest list of 25 had grown to a bulging 44, and included musicians, , producers, music supervisors, current fans and soon-to-be-fans. With our well-laid plans, Jill and I had confidence all would work out and it would be a beautiful musical adventure.

“Then…6:05 pm on Friday night before the concert, Jill called me from the E.R.! She had fallen and broken her shoulder! OMG!! The doctor said no playing guitar for awhile, and she was looking at a 4–6 month recovery. It was a mad scramble to reach all the guests, cancel all the food. Jill is now back in Nashville recovering. We will reschedule for a fall concert…without the fall. Always expected the unexpected.”

PANELIST BIOS

GREG CAMP is the founding guitarist and primary songwriter of the alt pop band . He was already an experienced punk- oriented musician when he co-founded Smash Mouth in 1994. Largely responsible for writing most of Smash Mouth’s hit songs (including "'All Star," "Walking on the Sun," "," and others), his songs helped to catapult them to acclaim with chart-topping hits in various formats, awards, and multi-platinum albums. He left Smash Mouth in the summer of 2008 to become a producer and solo artist. That solo album, Defektor, on Bar/None Records was described by Guitar Player magazine as "weaving together everything you love about vintage guitar tones, tortured Farfisa, '60s frat-rock vocal hooks, and epic Moriccone-esque soundscapes." In other words, “he fears no genre. He can turn any style on its head and make it new.”

He’s currently with the raw, multi-style, group, the Sun|Drones, signed to Island Records.

JACK GRISHAM Jack Grisham describes himself as an author, frontman, actor, filmmaker, and a two-bit carny hypnotist [therapist]. As a vocalist for T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty), which emerged from the late 1970’s Los Angeles hardcore scene, and the Joykiller, he's released close to twenty full-length records and toured the world many times over. Jack has been blamed for enlightening, and corrupting the moldable minds of our for years—he’s also been credited for influencing many of today’s top bands and helping those wayward adventurers that might be seeking a sober yet exciting life. As an author, he's released four books: An American Demon, Untamed and Code Blue a Love Story. His latest, A Principle of Recovery, has attacked the tired tenets of what a sober life should be. As an actor, Jack plays himself—a lovable con-man that you can't fail to root for—in Suburbia, Let It Rock, Punks Not Dead, American Hardcore, Rage, Urban Struggle and The Other F-Word. He also recently wrote and co-produced a short film based on one of his less-than-savory compositions— Code Blue a Love Story—an ode to necrophilia, which stars the wonderful Andy Dick. Jack gives motivational talks all over the country and is always challenging the senses and inflaming the boundaries of what is decent and tame. !3 GARY HELSINGER Gary Helsinger served as Director of A&R and Director of Special Markets, Film/TV at Universal Music Publishing for 11 years. He was previously at Chrysalis Music Publishing where he signed and discovered Jeff Buckley and Tool. Gary began his career in retail at the legendary Tower Records on Sunset Blvd., and has been a personal music manager, tour manager, and concert promoter. Plus, he had one Platinum album recorded in his garage. He was a member of the multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated rock band, Green Jellÿ, and ran the band's TV production company. Currently, he’s the Senior Vice President/Licensing and Creative at Opus 1 Music, a production music library. He’s been in L.A. for years.

STEVE PORCARO Songwriter/keyboardist, Steve Porcaro is a founding member of the Grammy-winning, platinum-selling rock band Toto. It was his keyboard and arranging chops that contributed to their huge pop hits "Hold the Line," "Rosanna," and "Make Believe." Oh, and he co-wrote "Human Nature" and produced the synthesizer part for “The Girl Is Mine” on ’s 30 million-selling, Thriller album.

Early in his career Steve toured with Gary Wright supporting The Dream Weaver album. He and the other original members of Toto then played with Boz Scaggs before forming Toto. Toto was Steve’s brothers Jeff and Mike Porcaro, , David Hungate, Steve Lukather and Bobby Kimball —the band enjoyed great commercial success in the late 1970s and 1980s, especially in 1982’s sweep of the Grammys with Toto IV and the single, “Rosanna.” After Toto disbanded in 1988, Steve launched a songwriting, TV and film scoring career, contributing to such movies as Metro starring Eddie Murphy and Hope with Christine Lahti. He also scored the UPN-TV series “The Sentinel,” “Gideon's Crossing” on ABC, and the FX television show “Justified.”

Steve’s due to release his first solo album on June 10, 2016. And, he’ll be on a U.S. tour with Toto this summer. You can catch him in Indio or Paso Robles in September.

JONATHAN ROSNER Having spent twenty plus years as a music publisher, Jonathan Rosner is president of Waterslide Music and Clear This! music clearance/supervision. At Waterslide, he's signed up and coming band Fever The Ghost and singer/ songwriter Dylan LeBlanc in addition to managing the estate of jazz great Maynard Ferguson.

Formerly, Jon was a partner/co-President at The Bicycle Music Company, where he worked for two decades and was responsible for signing writers, catalog acquisition and catalog exploitation. Among Jon’s signings are The Dickies, Kool Keith, The High & Mighty, Marshall Goodman, The Smut Peddlers, Wesley Willis, Linus Of Hollywood,producer Don “One Eye” Saunders, the Oglio Records publishing catalogs, The Tokens, Jorge Santana and Money Mark.

KIM SHATTUCK "Kim" Shattuck is the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the band . From 1985 to 1990, she was a member of . Plus, she was also a member of the Pixies, playing bass for them in 2013—but that’s another story.

Kim sang on the NOFX song, "Lori Meyers" on the album Punk in Drublic, as well as on the song, "I'll Always Remember You (That Way)," which was included with the single "My Wena.” She also collaborated with vocals for the Kepi Ghoulie song "This Friend of Mine" on the album American Gothic and for their track "Some Girls" off the album A Little Messed Up. Shattuck is the namesake of Dr. Shattuck, a character on Mr. Show (HBO, 1995–1999).

She participated in a reunion of The Pandoras on July 4, 2015, at the Burger Boogaloo in Oakland, California. Although she played bass in The Pandoras, she was the lead singer and guitarist for the reunion. And she is still “rough with punk edges” as defined by the New York Times.

DIANE SNYDER-RAMIREZ Diane has over 18 years of experience with copyright administration and royalties. She is currently Vice President, Royalty Accounting and Administration for Royalty Review Council, an independent music royalty administration organization. Diane is responsible for managing a number of and music publishing royalty accounts. Prior to her current position, Diane was a music consultant as well as an advocate for digital music rights issues. She was a key team member in the development of a rights administration and royalty system for one of the largest online US music service providers. Additionally, Diane worked closely with her clientele to prepare for the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings on digital rights presenting extensive research and documentation. Previously, Diane was Director of Member Relations for ASCAP (NY), and played a role in furthering several of the department’s outreach programs, increased membership and handling high-profile clientele. She began her music career at CMJ and was responsible for the launch of CMJ Canada, the first weekly college radio trade publication in the Canadian market. A graduate of California State University, Long Beach, Diane holds a BA in radio, television and film. She is currently President of the California Copyright Conference and speaks at industry events and universities.

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